High blood pressure has become a household word as more and more people find either their heart or their arteries are not functioning as fully as capable. One thing is clear: these conditions are not a death sentence. High blood pressure does not mean just sitting on the couch and doing nothing. In most cases, one’s healthcare practitioner will recommend exercise, not a sedentary lifestyle. While a small rise in blood pressure is not considered harmful, prolonged elevation of blood pressure over a number of years is usually considered to create a higher risk of stroke or heart attack or other circulation problem. And, if untreated, it can cause serious problems and could also shorten one’s life.
The only sure way to know if one has high blood pressure is to measure it. This can be done accurately and easily both at home or at your health-care practitioners facility.
High pressure can cause problems such as dizzy spells, headaches, and even nosebleeds. However, these same symptoms can occur in people who do not have high pressure. The main causes of appear to be the hardening of the arteries, especially the arteries in the brain, kidneys and heart. The extra pressure of the blood tends to lead to thickening and twisting of blood vessels. This disrupts the smooth inner lining of the blood vessels and they become irregular and block the flow of blood. Therefore, when the blood pressure is high, it accelerates the process of hardening of the arteries. When the blood vessels become abnormal, there’s a tendency toward clot formation, or thrombosis. This can lead to blockage in the coronary blood vessels, which results in a heart attack. When blockage happens in the brain, paralysis or speech disturbances can occur. We call this a stroke. Also, bleeding can possibly occur because of this extra high pressure in damaged or weakened brain blood vessels. Because the brain tissues become destroyed from this, a stroke can happen.
The commonest form of heart disease, at least in the United States, is from development of coronary artery disease. The extra pressure puts an extra load on the heart. Our hearts are very flexible and can adapt to a lot but there is a limit to what they can endure. When the blood pressure increases to a moderate or severe level, the heart compensates sometimes by becoming enlarged. Sometimes the heart just may not be able to function adequately and that we call heart failure. When someone experiences shortness of breath while they’re doing something physical, their heart can quit. Sometimes the heart does not stop altogether, but it fails to give an adequate amount of blood to all parts of the body.
When the blood pressure has been high or severe for quite a while, which is different in different people for how long that means, the blood vessels of the kidneys also change. They thicken and this leads to a reduced amount of blood flowing to the kidney. Although the kidneys do not necessarily cease working, they just aren’t as efficient as they should be.
The one place in the body where we can really observe what blood vessels look like and that they are doing is in the eye. When there is high blood pressure there can be a thickening and increased twisting of these blood vessels in the eye when observed. When this is severe, blood cells and the plasma may leak. We need to keep in mind, however, that the eyesight is not affected for most people who have blood pressure challenges.
Your health care practitioner is the only person who can accurately ascertain what your blood pressure and arteries and veins and eye blood vessels are interacting and functioning like.
Eleanor is a licensed Massage Therapist and has been writing articles online for over ten years. Her articles cover a wide span of interesting subjects, such as those at http://www.PiePan.org/ which provides information about unique ways to use pie pans and useful tricks for making mouth-watering pies, having fun while doing so, and filling the pie pans full of love and delight.
